International Challenge Match RECAP: Nigeria v Scotland

LOOK back on Scotland's friendly draw with Nigeria in London - as it happened - in our live blog.

GOOD afternoon and a warm welcome to our live blog, warming up to and covering Scotland's latest friendly match.

Tonight, at Fulham's Craven Cottage in southwest London, Scotland go head-to-head with Nigeria looking to extend their unbeaten run to six matches.

There is a real sense of purpose about this squad at the moment, with the opening European Championship qualifier against Germany in September creeping closer and they go into the match having not conceded in their last four.

Most importantly though, the national side now looks like a real team under Gordon Strachan, there is a growing hope and optimism among the Tartan Army and the manager will be aware of the importance of keeping the feel-good factor going ahead of the qualifiers.

This might be a friendly against Nigeria tonight but these matches only mean nothing until you start losing them.

Nigeria v Scotland kicks off at 8pm tonight at Craven Cottage and our build-up to the match starts now.

4:53 pm

There has been one big story surrounding what should have been the most normal and routine of friendly matches tonight, that being the suspicions of match-fixing.

There is absolutely no suggestion that any of the Scotland players are under suspicion, although the temptation to make a cheap joke about Ian Black not being in the squad is overwhelming.

5:06 pm

Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record

As I mentioned earlier, what was a pretty motley and demotivated crew of players under Craig Levein is now playing like a real team under Gordon Strachan. The Scotland manager has a clear football philosophy and style of play, built on a solid back four with two sitting midfielders and three attackers supporting a lone frontman. It gives the team plenty of cover in defence while allowing them to break with pace on the counter and offer a threat up front. It works well, but only when the entire team pulls together. This is a good group of hard-working pros but with no truly world-class matchwinner to hang their hat on they will all have to work for every point.

The Scotland boss has called up a couple of newbies for this tie. Both Chris Martin and Craig Forsyth play key roles in the Derby County side that came tantalisingly close to winning promotion to the English top flight in the play offs. The former is a 25-year-old striker who began his career at Norwich but is now flourishing at Pride Park, having scored 25 goals this season. The latter is a slightly more interesting one. Left-back Forsyth began his career at Dens Park before leaving Dundee for Watford. He eventually fell out of favour there, spending a loan spell at Bradford before being farmed out to Derby where he earned a permanent deal. Many would have got the first bus home when things started to go wrong in London, but the Carnoustie-born Forsyth stuck it out and is now getting his rewards.

Gordon Strachan has also been speaking about Celtic boss Neil Lennon's departure in the lead-up to this match and his comments did give insight into the pressures that particular club job brings. Put it this way, he was pleased to say that the only phone call he'll be getting from Dermott Desmond in the summer will be to ask if he fancies a game of golf.

In the interview he also spoke about tonight's match, which comes at the end of a long, hard season for most of the players. There has been no sign of fatigue in the squad though, if anything, he has sensed a real determination to impress with the Euro qualifiers edging closer:

It might not be a name that immediately springs to mind when rhyming off the 'cathedrals' of world football, but Scotland are playing at one of England's great little stadiums tonight. A compact ground, Craven Cottage boasts the oldest remaining stand in the English football league, with the Grade II listed Johnny Hayes Stand running the length of the pitch on one side. The teams emerge from a pavilion in one corner of the ground that dates back to 1905. Facing it is the Riverside Stand, which, as the name implies, is literally yards from the River Thames. This stand houses the hospitality lounges where you can wander out after the final whistle and enjoy a post-match drink on the riverbank. It's not a bad place to watch a game of football. And the pies aren't too shabby either. But that's West London for you.

5:55 pm

The Under-21s are also in action tonight, playing Holland at St Mirren Park in Paisley in a European Championship qualifier and like the senior side, we are starting to see a few promising signs and green shoots of recovering within the youth set-up. The Under-19s narrowly lost out to England away from home as well and you can see the highlights from that match here:

Both Keith Jackson and Craig Swan are in West London for the match tonight, but will be absolutely nowhere near The Broadway. You'll be able to read their match reports, interviews and reaction in tomorrow's Record Sport and we'll also have Craig's reaction and analysis online after the final whistle tonight as well.

So Shaun Maloney is back for his first Scotland appearance since last September at the tail-end of an injury-hit season with Wigan. He hasn't featured since scoring in the 2-1 win away against Macedonia.

Maloney is one of five changes made from the team that beat Poland 1-0 in March, with Allan McGregor, Grant Hanley, Andrew Robertson and Steven Naismith the others coming in.

Norwich loanee Joseph Yobo and Shola Ameobi, recently released by Newcastle, have been named in Nigeria's starting line-up, while Celtic defender Efe Ambrose is amongst the substitutes in west London.

Now, I don't want to get involved in a independence debate or be accused of favouring one party over another. But can you trust a man that kicks a ball like that? That is the real burning political question of the day.

7:48 pm

Is this really Craig LLevein, really?

Cheering on Gordon, Billy and all the lads in Scotland jerseys tonight. Good luck guys! #cmonscotland

I tried to find the original Tweet and Tweeter, sadly, it seems to have disappeared into the ether. But, referring to the aforementioned former Scotland boss it went along the lines of: "I don't want to live in a world where Craig Levein uses smileys."